Finally taking the garden in hand

Things are even later than usual here and with the seemingly never ending Winter we haven’t really been out in the garden at all – fair weather gardeners and all that! The May bank holiday saw the sun come out and the mercury rise thoughand we finally had both time and the weather on our side to get stuck in.

a re-seeded sorry specimen of a lawn

Our to-do list is woefully long, and it still seems to be – we’ve barely made a dent. Sandy shifted lots of earth into the raised beds and pots that are now awaiting planting, as well as trying to replant our sorry excuse for a lawn out the back – the Winter weather and the puppy have taken their toll.

Beech hedge greening up

I seemed to get most of my day’s step count by clearing out old pots from all over the garden. some were replanted – all the succulents and cacti from the conservatory are now looking much happier – and others are now eagerly awaiting cuttings, seedlings and whatever else we decide to try this year. Annoyingly I found a bag of spuds that I’d forgotten to harvest last year – mostly rotten – although there were 3 good-looking specimens which I’ve re-planted for curiosity’s sake to see what happens. Although I’m sure I’ve heard/read somewhere that this is ill-advised…

Jerusalem artichokes

The Jerusalem artichokes I dug up were prolific – I wasn’t expecting much as the plants had failed to thrive (as far as I could see) or produce flowers last year – will try cooking them and then replant a few to see what happens. I’m glad I grew them in a container – it looks like it’s true that they’re hard to eradicate once in.

Cherry blossom

Our Spring bulbs are still looking lovely and there are now buds coming out everywhere. The beech hedge has started greening up going from a few leaves showing to almost half the hedge in just a couple of days. One of the more curious things was the swarm of wasps buzzing around the gooseberry bushes – I’ve never noticed this before but they were there all weekend. I couldn’t work out where they were coming from or going to but they seemed to be going crazy for the tiny flowers.

Gooseberry flowers

SO much still to do (not to mention a rather large shopping list) but it’s a start – better late than never!